Medical Dictionary Definitions A-Z List

Medical Dictionary Definitions A - Z - «A»:

AbortiveAbortive: The word "abortive" has a number of meanings including prematurely born; fruitless or unsuccessful; imperfectly formed or developed; tending to cut short.
In everyday language, the sense of "abortive" to mean prematurely born, as "an abortive child," is largely obsolete today. The main m...

Abortive polioAbortive polio: Abortive polio is a minor illness. It accounts for 80-90% of clinically apparent cases of polio infection, chiefly in young children. It does not involve the CNS. The usual symptoms are slight fever, malaise, headache, sore throat and vomiting which hit 3-5 days after exposure to th...

ABR testABR test: Auditory brainstem response test. A test for hearing and brain (neurological) functioning. ABR may be used in the evaluation of:
Hearing integrity (and neurologic normalcy) in infants and young children.
Neurologic integrity (and hearing) in patients who are comatose, unresponsive, or im...

Abraham-manAbraham-man: Also abram-man. One of a class of beggars who once wandered over England after the dissolution of the religious houses in the 16th century, pretending lunacy for the sake of obtaining alms.
To sham Abraham (or sham Abram) now means to feign sickness, to fake illness....

AbrasionAbrasion: An abrasion or "excoriation" is a wearing away of the upper layer of skin as a result of applied friction force. In dentistry an "abrasion" is the wearing away of the tooth substance....

AbrinAbrin: A phytotoxin (plant poison) found in the seeds of a plant called the rosary pea or jequirity pea. These seeds are red with a black spot covering one end.
Abrin is similar to ricin, a toxin that is also found in the seeds of a plant (the castor bean plant), although abrin is much more poisono...

Abruptio (abruptio placentae)Abruptio (abruptio placentae): Premature separation of the
placenta from the wall of the uterus. Abruption is a potentially serious problem both for
the mother and baby....

AbruptionAbruption: A sudden breaking off or away. Abruption of the placenta (abruptio placentae) is the
premature separation of the placenta from the wall of the uterus, a potentially very serious situation for the mother and baby....

AbsAbs: Commonly used slang for the abdominal muscles, the muscles running up and down in the abdominal wall. The "abs" contain the rectus abdominus muscle, "rectus" meaning straight."...

AbscessAbscess: A local accumulation of
pus anywhere in the body. The following are some examples of abscesses:
A skin abscess is better known as a common boil;
A peritonsillar abscess is a persistent collection
of pus behind the tonsils; and
A perianal abscess is a pool of
pus that forms next to the a...